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U.S. Postal Service Reports Fiscal Year 2018 Results

On November 14, the United States Postal Service released their fiscal year results for 2018.

In their press release, they stated there was an overall volume decline of 3.2 billion pieces and a net loss of $3.9 billion.

They showed an operating revenue of $70.6 billion for fiscal year 2018 (October 1, 2017 – September 30, 2018), an increase of $1.0 billion compared to the prior year. The higher revenues were driven largely by continued growth in the Shipping and Packages business, where revenue increased $2.0 billion, or 10.1 percent, which more than offset revenue declines in First-Class and Marketing Mail as a result of declining volumes in that segment of its business.

In 2018, First-Class Mail volumes declined by approximately 2.1 billion pieces, or 3.6 percent, while package volumes grew by 394 million pieces, or 6.8 percent, continuing a multi-year trend of declining mail volumes and increasing package volumes. Although mail volume declines were partially offset by growth in package volume, overall volume for the year declined by 3.2 billion pieces.

Similar to the last several years, the Postal Service was unable to make the $6.9 billion in payments that were due to the federal government at the end of fiscal year 2018 to pre-fund pension and health benefits for postal retirees, without putting its ability to fulfill its primary mission at undue risk.

Compared to Prior Year
The following presents revenue and volume by service category for the year ended September 30, 2018, and 2017: